A Kiev court has issued an arrest warrant for former Agriculture Minister Mykola Prisyazhniuk, who is alleged to have embezzled UAH540 million (US$41.5 million) from the country's Agrarian Fund.

Former Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Prisyazhniuk.

The Russian Legal Information Agency reported the funding Prisyazhniuk allegedly took was supposed to have been used for buying sugar to regulate prices.

The story reported the Ukraine's Main Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General's Office was "investigating a group of officials suspected of large-scale misappropriation and embezzlement through abuse of office".

Prisyazhniuk was part of the former government of Viktor Yanukovich, who was impeached on Feb. 22 prior to the Russia's military intervention in the Crimea on Feb. 27.

While the U.S. and the European Union consider further sanctions against Russia over its actions in the region, the Eurasian giant's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has threatened tough measures on the Ukraine for agricultural trade if it secedes from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) or enters an association agreement with the EU.

Photo: Kmu.gov.ua

ww.freshfruitportal.com